One Month Later

"D oc, I can get that for you," the tech offered as she boarded the ship.

"It's okay. I've got it." Rosie held on to the case and carried it through the tight hall that would lead to the lower decks, where she'd find her room.

She wasn't even sure why she'd brought it with her, but she'd done so on every trip. It had been four years since she'd accidentally pressed that button. Every now and then, the scientist in her grew curious, and she'd pull it out of a closet that she knew Ami never went into. She'd open the case and stare down at the thing without ever removing it, not wanting to risk accidentally pressing the button again. She'd ruined her relationship with Felicity because of it.

‘Ruined' might be a strong word, but weeks after that day in her kitchen, Ami had stopped by the office and brought her a cup of coffee. She'd also kissed Rosie right in front of Felicity, and it had been then that Rosie had realized that Felicity did have feelings for her and that the vision she'd seen had been something else entirely. It hadn't come from Rosie's mind. They'd talked after Ami had left, and she'd told Felicity that she was back with Ami. Felicity hadn't confessed anything about her own feelings, but then months later, she'd earned her Ph.D and took a job in a museum in Portugal.

They'd messaged here and there in the beginning and mostly about work. Felicity would have a question. Rosie would answer it and ask how she was doing. It was small talk and not at all how they'd once been able to talk to one another, so it saddened Rosie, but she didn't want to hurt the woman any more than she'd already had. Felicity also seemed to have been doing well in Portugal, and it sounded like she liked it there. Even if Rosie wasn't falling back in love with Ami at the time, she couldn't ask Felicity to come back just for her.

Rosie slipped the case under the bottom bunk in the cabin and sat on the bed. It was unusual for her to have a bunk bed in her room, but every ship was different, and it was just a place to lay her head at night, so it wouldn't matter much. She had had a long flight and then a drive to get to the dock, where she'd had to take a smaller boat to get to the ship, so she was exhausted and felt filthy. As soon as the rest of her luggage was placed in her room and she was left alone, she decided to take a quick shower to clean up and cool down from the heat. When she then got out of the cramped bathroom, though, she saw a woman standing by the bunk beds, tossing a bag onto the top one.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know I was bunking–"

The woman turned around, and Rosie nearly dropped the towel she'd had pressed to her naked body.

"Hi, Rosie," Felicity said with a shy smile. "I guess we're roommates."

"Felicity?"

"Hi," she repeated. "Um…" She pointed at Rosie, who was only wearing a towel.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I wasn't expecting anyone to be in here. I–" Rosie stopped. "My clothes are in my bag. I'll just change in the bathroom."

"In the whole six square inches of space in there?" Felicity laughed a little. "Just change out here. I won't look, if that's what you're worried about. I'm exhausted. My flight was delayed, and I already had a long layover. I'm just going to crash for an hour before we really get started."

Rosie shook her head and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Felicity climbed up to the top bunk like she'd done that a dozen times and said, "They called me after they called you, I guess. I just found that out a few days ago. You didn't get back to them soon enough, so they asked me. I'd thought I was their first pick, but I don't take offense because, well, I know how good you are." Felicity pushed her bag toward the end of the bed and lay down, letting her feet rest on the bag. "You said yes eventually, but I'd already booked everything. They just decided the ship was large enough for both of us, I suppose."

"Why didn't I know about this?"

"No clue." She turned toward Rosie. "I thought they'd told you. I'll be on nights. You'll have days. We'll be able to get more work done that way. Is that a problem, though, us working together again? I know it's not exactly the same – I'm not your mentee anymore – but I thought it could be fun. Maybe we could catch up. It's been years."

"Yeah, fun." Rosie smiled a little cautiously. "And I'm glad you're here, but I thought you were at a museum."

"I was until about six months ago. I'm back home now. Well, I will be – I've been on ships for the past half a year. When I'm done here, though, I'll be heading back. Or, at least, it'll be my home base."

"You've been going on ships?" Rosie asked.

"Years of therapy finally paid off: I can be on a boat and on the water now. I'm even working on my diving certification. I should be done with that soon. Then, I can really get my hands dirty. I'm going to focus on the Gulf of Mexico for the next few years. I found an investor who wants to sponsor my work there. Diving will come in handy."

"That's amazing, Felicity." Rosie smiled for real this time.

Then, she realized that she was still only in a towel and reached for her bag.

"Just give me a second."

"No problem," Felicity replied and turned her face toward the ceiling, which was only about a foot above her head. "So… How's Ami?"

Rosie slipped into her underwear and tossed on a sports bra before answering.

"Um… She's good."

"Yeah? I didn't– I mean– I didn't see a ring."

Rosie looked down at her hand after putting on her pants and said, "I don't usually bring it on expeditions. I wore my engagement ring around my neck on a chain the first trip after she proposed, and, well, I lost it in the water. I haven't heard the end of it since."

"You lost your engagement ring?"

"I was leaning over, helping the techs get the side-scan sonar back on board, and I forgot I had it around my neck because I didn't want to wear it and risk losing it that way, and yeah, it fell overboard. I'm sure some fish and his or her fish wife is enjoying it on their fin."

Felicity laughed and said, "I would have gone with it landing on a corral or something, but still funny."

"So, that's the story of why I usually leave my wedding band at home in my jewelry box."

"Probably a good idea," Felicity agreed. "Are you decent?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

Felicity turned in time to see that Rosie had put on a T-shirt and was running the towel through her hair to dry it.

"So, things are good for you, then? You get to have it all, huh? The career on the water. The wife at home."

"Something like that, yeah," she said without giving too much away .

"I know we'll overlap some with the work and stuff, but we'll be working different shifts, too. Can we maybe, I don't know, hang out when we're not needed up there? I really would love to catch up."

"Yeah, me too." Rosie smiled at her and tossed the towel on her own bed.

"Good," Felicity replied.